Wisconsin added 16,700 private sector jobs from July to August, a 0.7% increase, and the state’s unemployment rate dropped from 7.1% to 6.2%, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released yesterday by the Department of Workforce Development.
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is still below the national average, which was 8.4% in August. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate saw the largest jump from 3.1% in March to 13.6% in April. The unemployment rate has steadily declined since May (12.1%) and June (8.6%).
The state’s labor force participation rate was 65.4% in August, which is higher than the nation’s labor force participation rate of 61.7%.
So far, the state has recovered 206,900 jobs, which places Wisconsin at the halfway point of recovering total jobs lost (395,800) since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.